One day, a monk traveled into the mountain where Gensha Shibi resided to see the Zen master and study Zen with him. The monk said to Gensha:-I am a new comer, please be kind to tell me where I can enter the Zen gate.

Gensha asked:-On the path you came here, you passed a brook, didn't you?

The monk replied:-Yes, I did.

Gensha asked again:-You heard the sound of running water, didn't you?

The monk answered:-Yes, I did.

Gensha said:-At the place where you heard the sound of running water is the path leading to the Zen gate.

To know the truth about God, the afterlife, reincarnation, spiritualism, Zen does not seek to answer subjective questions because these are not important issues for Zen. What really matters is the here and now: not God, not the afterlife, but the present moment here and now. These questions are impossible to answer, given the limited sphere of knowledge that comes with the condition of being a human being.

Moreover, Zen firmly believes that nobody knows the answers to those questions and that they are impossible to answer because of our limited condition.

As Master Taisen Deshimaru said, "It is impossible to give a definite answer to those questions, unless you suffer from a major mental disorder."